Lehavael

The cedars of Lebanon whispered in the midsummer wind. They carried the sounds of the Shrike and the Kingfisher, but this day, they also carried another sound. At first it sounded such as the Lynx; subtle to be sure. Something about this sound, however, was…inconsistent. It’s droning persisted; a steady annoyance piercing through the darkness of the cave where Lehavael slept. He raised himself to all fours groaning.

Typically, the cool dampness of this cave provided a peaceful rest, but these sounds were getting on his nerves. He turned and moved towards the light at the end of the cave. The ground rumbled lowly under the weight of each step. The cave opened up to the forest; trees dancing as the birds fled at the sight of him. The sun poked though the treetops. Lehavael glared at it. It was once a welcome sight, but for the past three millennia it had been a symbol of shame and oppression. The sound echoed again. He stepped through the dense wood crushing the smaller trees and brush searching for the source of the sound. Other animals sprinted out of the way when he neared, but the sound grew louder as he approached it; some creature prouder than himself. A moment later the sound was practically upon him. Stopped and stretched his neck looking for the source. It was near, but it must have been a small creature because it wasn’t visible to him. His senses narrowed on a particular bush. With his leg, he gently pushed the brush aside. It was a human.

Lying on the ground swaddled in a cloth was a tiny human child. It wriggled angrily. Defenseless. “Human,” Lehavael spoke; his voice booming, vibrating the nearby leaves. “From whence have you come?” The child merely squawked on. “It would seem that you have been abandoned by your kin,” he said looking around the forest before honing in on the child’s face. “There was a time when your kind held the life of one such as yourself more precious than gold. Alas, that time lasted but a wink. And now, your kind pours over the world like a dearth. You raze the lands, burn the forests, and feed on what remains like the spawn of Abaddon. Yet here, they discard you as they once discarded us. In time they have discarded even the son who gave them purpose.”

The child had finally settled down focusing a stern face on Lehavael. His red scales glinted in the reflection of the child’s eyes; eyes of defiance. “You have their spirit,” Lehavael spoke reaching a claw down and carefully scooping the child up from the ground. “Come child. Let us teach your kind once more.” He spread his wings wide and looked up towards the tops of the trees. He pulled a powerful breath and let the chemicals fuse in his lungs catalyzing and combusting. He roared towards the sky. The fire consumed the leaves and branches almost immediately opening up the clear blue sky. Lehavael leaped up and batted his wings rising high above the trees in a matter of seconds. The child once again began to cry out. Lehavael’s wings held him in the air as he scanned the horizon; the Mediterranean to the west, and the cities of man peppering the lands from the shores through to horizon in the east. He raised his claw holding the screaming child and looked down at its face. “Yes, human. You have learned the lesson. Now, we will teach the rest of your kind.” Lehavael growled. “To fear!” He boomed as he flipped through the air tossing the child upward and opened his mouth wide. He snapped the child out of the air consuming it in one bite. His rage exploded from him in a roar of flame through the open air. He reared back and shot forward towards the shore of the nearest human city.

The air ripped between his wings as he closed in on the shore. It was littered with humans both on the sand and in the waters and on the roads. Just inland stood their buildings of iron and stone. The force from his wingbeats sprayed the sand as he landed. He looked around at the humans who stood or recoiled in stunned wonder. This gave Lehavael a sense of pride. He stood up tall and raised his neck tilting his head only slightly to look down upon the humans. There was a long moment of silence, and then the stillness in the air was broken by the movement of one of the humans. They had looked down and reached into their clothes retrieving what looked like a piece of slate. A few taps latter and the human turned away from Lehavael, held up the device, and began speaking to it. Others soon began to follow suit. It seemed that most, if not all, of these humans carried a stone with them, but the way they handled them told Lehavael that they weren’t normal stones.

It had been at least a thousand years since he had last interacted with humans. The last time he had emerged, it was because humans had taken to hunting dragons. In the beginning, they wouldn’t have dared to challenge a dragon, but as they became wiser, they molded their gears of war and killed their first Dragonkin. Their abilities grew with time and eventually their war against dragons had driven those surviving into the depths of the earth where light neither found their eyes nor guided their torches. Truer still, left to their devices, humans notoriously sought other things to kill and could often be found warring against one another, and despite this fact, their kind persists…no…infests.

Lehavael looked around at the humans now regaining their composure and all but ignoring him. Levahael spoke; his words vibrated the sands and once again commanded their full attention.

“Here, now, faced against a true dragon you humans show no sign of remembrance.” Some jaws dropped, others turned back to their devices and continued talking to themselves. Lehavael continued. “In ancient days your kind showed reverence to mine; even opposition and hatred, but in the many ages past since your kind crawled out of the garden, there has never been a time such as this. A time when humanity has forgotten not only the reverence of our majesty,” he said snarling “but the fear of our might.”

Before the humans knew what was happening, Lehavael had opened his mouth wide and engulfed the humans nearest in dragon fire; those caught in the fire were cinders before they could inhale a breath to scream with. The rest of the humans began to scream and flee in all directions. Pride welled inside Lehavael and he breathed in another toxic breath and blasted out another stream of flame kicking up sand in its wake while burning everything in its path and turning the sands to shards of flying glass. He turned his eyes towards the buildings and leaped towards them. There were iron vehicles moving about the stone paths. He stomped on one of them and it let out a satisfying crunch as it immediately halted and began to emit smoke. It then split a part of itself and he saw a human crawl out of it and run away. Lehavael looked around at the other vehicles and noticed that there were other humans within them. More accurately, there were humans within the ones that were moving, and most of those which were not moving did not have humans within. He also noticed that once a human within had made eye contact with him, the vehicle would suddenly and erratically move away.

“Chariots,” Levahael boomed. “Ha! Your forms may have changed, but I can still snatch your bodies from your weak cages!” he said charging towards the nearest vehicle zooming backwards. He caught up in no time as it crashed into another chariot and with his powerful legs gripped the top and peeled it open and blasted the human inside with fire. He then lifted off the ground and began flying through the human streets smashing his body against their tall buildings and blasting fire at everything that moved. He slashed at the buildings but the taller ones remained standing despite the thrashing. He latched his feet onto one of them and roared loudly as he scanned the area. He spotted a coliseum and leaped off the building soaring towards it. Humans and their coliseums. He thought. They can’t help themselves! Lehavael landed in the center of the field with a thunderous boom and skid to a stop. “Humans!” He bellowed. “Send me your champions!” He shot out a flame into the empty stands. “Come to your doom!” There was a silence. No one responded. “Your kind has grown weak!” He shouted. “Fear not. I will put you out of your misery!” Just then, a high pitch sound began to grow. Lehavael turned his head towards the sound. It came from the skies.

“Dragons?” he spoke as he watched a large creature soar overhead. It had wings, but they did not beat. The creature released something that fell towards Lehavael. He jumped up and soared into the air as the object hit the ground and exploded in a force that surprised and for a moment made his heart leap with fear. The force threw him back and emitted significant heat, though not as significant as dragon fire. “You devils!” Lehavael yelled. “Was it not enough to chase my kind into the earth, and now you create dragons of your own to replace us! Not so!” he said as he turned and took off into the sky after the creature. He caught up and tried to grasp the iron dragon but it curved through the air away from him. He made chase and felt heat coming from its tail which emitted a purplish fire. He continued flying after it and quickly realized that though it was fast, it was not agile and could not make sharp turns or slow down for that matter. A few swift maneuvers later and he was upon the creature sinking his claws into its hide. He blasted the creature with fire and ripped at its wings until they separated from the body and fell towards the earth spewing water. He ripped at the front of what he now realized was a chariot like those on the ground, but there was no human in this one. He pushed off of the vehicle and watched as it soared down and crashed into one of the large buildings exploding into a blaze of fire. “Are these your dragons?” he scoffed as he flew down towards the buildings again.

He dove and curved skillfully through the buildings setting them ablaze and continuing his destruction of every vehicle in his path as he flew back towards the sea. He spotted a tower at the waterside and flew up to the top landing on it and roaring. He looked at the smoke and fire from his trail of destruction. Many humans and their chariots fled in all directions away from his position. “Is this your best humans?” he called to them. To the east he spotted more vehicles heading in his direction, but these were significantly different from the ones he had been destroying up to this point. These were much larger, looked much sturdier, and looked mostly identical. They travelled in a line heading towards him with purpose. They almost seemed…prideful. Lehavael groaned and leaped off the tower flying towards the vehicles. He smashed into the ground in front of them; they immediately halted, but in the silence following they did not flee. “You must be the leaders of these humans,” Lehavael spoke lowering his head and growling at the vehicles. A moment later a voice came from one of the vehicles; from which one he could not tell.

“And who are you?” The voice asked. Lehavael was taken aback. The last time a human had spoken to him, it was right after the war of the heavens. This human, however, lacked the power of the word.

“I am the flame of destruction. Lehavael. Who dares speak to me as an equal? Come human. Meet your doom.”

An instant later, one of the vehicles split and a human stepped out. He immediately made eye contact and stepped confidently towards Lehavael. This infuriated him. The human stepped in front of the leading vehicle and stopped; staring at Lehavael. He held in his hands a small device. He raised it to his mouth and spoke again, his voice projected to Lehavael’s ears.

“I am Ishmayim,” said the young man. “I am the shield of these humans and…should you not cease your assault, I will be their sword.”

Lehavael snorted and laughed at the prospect, but was immediately overcome with fury and yelled loudly as be blasted the man and vehicles with his dragon fire. When the fire ceased, the streets and surrounding structures were all but molten rock. The man, however, and his vehicles were untouched. He stood defiantly staring at Lehavael. “Have I got your attention dragon?” The man said calmly.

“Are you a descendant of the son of man or a sorcerer?” Lehavael asked taking a step forward.

“Ah ah ah,” Ishmayim said holding up a hand. Lehavael stopped advancing. “That’s far enough. I am no sorcerer, but I assure you, as I stand here unburnt, you don’t want me to use my magic.”

“Fool,” Lehavael boomed. “Humans never change. You have acquired new spears and arrows, but which of them will scratch my hide?”

“Trust me,” Ishmayim said. “We are not the same humans you once knew. So tell me dragon—”

“Lehavael!” the dragon bellowed. Still, Ishmayim showed no sign of fear.

“Lehavael,” he spoke softly. “Why have you come here?”

“You humans have been a scourge on this earth long enough. It is time for the end of the age of men.”

“Humans have existed here in peace for a long time. Tell me…Lehavael…WHERE did you come from?”

“From the depths of the earth where your kind has driven us. But that changes this day. The surface will be our new home. The sun and the host of heaven will be ours and the dirt and the rocks and the darkness from whence your kind came will be your eternal dwelling.”

Ishmayim shook his head. “Lehavael. We cannot allow you to simply destroy our cities and people. I urge you. Cease this conquest.”

Lehavael took another step towards Ishmayim crushing the ground under his weight; he didn’t flinch. “And if I don’t?” Lehavael asked in a guttural tone.

Ishmayim walked calmly forward stopping a few feet from Lehavael and looked up into his face; not an ounce of concern. “We will kill you,” Ishmayim answered.

Lehavael stared down at Ishmayim in shock. “What kind of human is this that speaks to a dragon as if he is a man?”

Lehavael reared his head back and brought it down swiftly clamping down on Ishmayim’s body. He expected a sickening crunch reminiscent of the wars of the ancient days of man. Instead, his teeth smashed together without the feel of flesh or the taste of iron flooding his tongue. Without opening his mouth, he slowly leaned back. Ishmayim still stood motionless in front of him; staring at him with impunity.

“I wish you hadn’t tried to eat me, Lehavael.” Ishmayim spoke. “I had hoped that you were a reasonable creature,” he said sighing and running a hand through his hair. “And now we have to kill you.”

Lehavael laughed. “You will kill me?”

“Yes,” Ishmayim said. “Hopefully we will learn more from your corpse.”

With that, Ishmayim’s body glimmered and he faded from existence. A second later a couple of humans stepped out of vehicles in the back carrying long iron devices. The devices ignited and shot projectiles out at him, Lehavael swung his wing in front of his face as both projectiles struck and exploded with a significant force. He fell over, but quickly regained his composure and stood turning on the first vehicle and showering it in flames. The first two vehicles had changed to a yellowish color and the front of the vehicle behind those had begun to change to orange. The last vehicles started backing up and Lehavael began to stomp after them stepping onto the first vehicle.

One of the moving vehicles suddenly moved its long iron tube upward pointing it at him. Lehavael didn’t know what it was, but context told him that this was likely another weapon. The ones attached to the vehicles, however, were much larger. He could only assume that they were more powerful. He quickly dodged to the side as a sonic boom blasted out of the tube shaking the earth and vehicles. Glass shattered from the nearby buildings and behind him was another loud explosion. Lehavael turned to observe what had happened. Whatever came out of the tube had moved faster than he could see and had exploded at the tower near the sea. A torrent of flame and billowing smoke engulfed the top of the tower as it bent and broke falling to the ground and destroying nearby structures. Lehavael turned back towards the vehicles, which were realigning their aim. He roared and took off overhead blasting the next vehicle with his fire while avoiding the slow moving aim of the next vehicle. “Is that all you humans can do? Fake dragon fire?” Another projectile flew by him barely missing. The force of the projectile pushed him slightly. He turned and saw the smoke of it trailing off towards the sea. He traced the smoke back to its origin where he spotted more vehicles heading through the forest of buildings towards him.

Lehavael roared in rage and turned flying away and soaring low over the roads blowing his flame over the vehicles and buildings as he curved around them. Another shot struck a building as he was passing and he growled. There was another stationary vehicle at the end of a road, which had apparently been waiting for him. He curved back and flew towards the sea but another shot blasted a building very close to him concussing him and causing him to fall out of the air to the ground as another strike exploded in the same location just seconds later. He hit the ground with such force that the road crumbled under him and water began to spray into the street. Lehavael groaned and stood again. The vehicles were moving closer. Alone they were weak, but there was an unknown number of them hiding around any given corner. “Clever beasts,” Lehavael said as he swiftly rammed his body into the side of one of the tall buildings and stood in the center of it. These wouldn’t fall despite his thrashing earlier. They should make a significant shelter for him as he calculated his next move. There were multiple levels to the inside of this structure. Lehavael assumed it must have been for humans to move around like ants in a hive. The structure was tall. This meant that if he could just reach the top of it, he would be able to take to the skies well above the ground vehicles, which wouldn’t be able to target him as keenly as they could while he was travelling below the sky line. Lehavael looked up at the ceiling. It appeared solid, but surely humans had ways of moving through the structure. The chemicals mixed in his lung and he bellowed out a roaring flame igniting the ceiling, which quickly burned away revealing the next few floors and another ceiling where the fire could not reach.

He raised himself up on his hind legs and grasped at the ground of the next floor; it was weak, but there were sturdier points which held his weight. He began to climb up through the floors blasting through the ceilings. After some time, he blasted a ceiling and it collapsed and light poured onto his face; the blue sky above. Lehavael grinned and moved with renewed fervor onto the rooftop. He glanced over the edge and saw the vehicles down below. A number of them were spread out in the distance in all directions. He saw one of the vehicles in the distance burst with smoke. Instantly, he knew why and dodged. A stream of smoke shot into the sky past him. He laughed and spread his wings wide and with a powerful wave he soared upward into the sky and headed towards the mountains to return to his cave. He watched the vehicles as they sat motionless. He knew they couldn’t reach him even if they wanted to; and they most certainly wanted to. Lehavael soared through the wind as he headed towards the snowcapped mountains near the cedar forests where the cave entrance to his den was hidden.

It was almost a peaceful flight, but then something or many sharp things struck him in the back. They did not penetrate his scales, but they still hurt. He roared and turned to see another iron vehicle flying very quickly towards him. The vehicle sped past him at a speed Lehavael couldn’t fathom. Another series of stings hit Lehavael and he dove looking behind himself noticing another vehicle zooming towards him just as fast as the previous one. It shot past him and up ahead. The two vehicles curved upward into the sky and then curled back towards him. “These dragons are formidable,” he spoke. “Come. Show me your fire!” he growled as he flew towards them. The vehicle started firing again. Lehavael covered his face with his wings. The projectiles hit. They hurt, but ultimately they were ineffective. He uncovered his face and immediately shot a burst of fire at the vehicle as it curved away from him. The fire struck the vehicle, but was almost immediately extinguished by the rushing wind. The second vehicle flying directly at him released something and immediately turned away. The projectile had a stream of white smoke behind it. Lehavael dodged the object which flew by and watched it as it soared off into the distance, but a moment later, it curved like the other vehicles and started heading back towards him. Lehavael dove towards the ground away from the object. The other vehicles followed suit firing their projectiles and twisting and turning as he weaved through the sky while narrowly avoiding the trailing projectile, which kept turning back towards him.

The next time it turned, it suddenly stopped emitting smoke and then dropped towards the mountains where it crashed into the ground and exploded burning the surrounding area. Lehavael turned towards the two vehicles and targeted one flying at it. Humans it seemed had developed explosive speed and power with their chariots and had even taken to the skies, however, they lacked agility and had significant trouble when it came to directing their power. That limitation was something he could exploit. As the next vehicle approached, he began flying in the same direction. He let loose a flame that trailed a path right into the vehicle and lingered long enough to catch part of its wing on fire as it curved away. As the second vehicle started to pass in the other direction as they had the last few times, Lehavael flew further into its path and swiped at it barely latching his claws onto its wing. The vehicle tumbled through the air, but quickly corrected itself and began to turn back. Lehavael looked at the first flaming vehicle, which suddenly burst into multiple explosions; parts plummeted towards the earth below. He turned back to the other vehicle, which immediately turned again and flew in the opposite direction. He thought to give chase, but the vehicle was too fast; he knew he couldn’t catch it. Lehavael turned back towards the mountain and flew down into the forest and walked through it to his cave.

The darkness and silence of the cave was a welcome experience, but it couldn’t last long. He made his way through the caverns to the den where the others rested. Dragon fire lit the area from the gas deposits they had ignited a millennium ago.

“Brethren,” he spoke getting their attention. There were four other dragons here of varying sizes and colors. They moved slowly to acknowledge him.

“Lehavael,” boomed one of the dragons; his voice echoing through the cave. “Why do you interrupt our rest?”

“Because I have challenged humankind,” he said. This got their attention.

“Humans are frail like the dust of the earth from which they came. What challenge do they present?” One of the dragons spoke.

“They have changed much, Cassiel. They have forged dragon chariots and have harnessed the speeds we have never considered.”

“Does the human Archimedes yet live?” Another dragon asked.

“They are short lived, humans,” Cassiel spoke. “Archimedes, the human who harnessed the sun is long dead. Perhaps his descendants have guided the humans to new power.”

“I surface and laid waste to the humans’ dwellings, but there were some…few in number but greater in force than the armies of old who opposed me.”

“Do humans oppose dragons?” another dragon asked.

“They dare to now,” Lehavael said. “They have grown prideful in their complacency. They mean to rule not only the earth, but the very heaven in which we used to dwell.”

“And the son,” Cassiel spoke. “Where is the son?”

“I saw no sign.”

“Then by their own power they rule?”

“It would appear so.”

“Then by their own power they shall fall!” Another dragon boomed.

“No brothers. By our power,” Lehavael spoke. There was a silence. “They have power, but those with power are few. This we can use to our advantage. We can leverage the safety of their weaker kin to lure out their leader and destroy him.”

“And who is their leader?” Cassiel asked.

“He calls himself Ishmayim. He cannot be touched. I moved to eat him up but he stood still...unscathed. He was translated elsewhere.”

“You said there was no sign.”

“No. This was no descendant. This was a simple human. His power and his hubris exceeds my understanding, but our wisdom will find him out.”

“How will we discover him? What if others have this power?” a dragon asked.

“Be still, Orphiel,” Cassiel spoke. “Humans have always had the same ailment from their conception.”

“What is that?”

“Humans can be persuaded,” Cassiel said. “We can convince them to fight our enemies for us in return for our aid in fighting theirs.”

“And then we destroy them when they have no more enemies,” Orphiel said.

“Naturally,” Cassiel said.

“Then you are with me?” Lehavael asked.

“The humans have ruled the earth long enough,” Cassiel said. “It is time for the dragons to return to the surface and remind them of the power of true dragons.”

The five dragons stood and followed Lehavael through the twists and turns of the caverns to the opening of the cave into the forest. The dragons flew into the skies and soared northwest lead by Lehavael to the human’s cities. When they landed, the humans they encountered had the same reaction as when Lehavael had first encountered them; stunned awe and then their strange behavior with their devices. The resulting destruction of the city was so severe that the smoke created massive clouds in the skies that blotted out the sun. Lehavael found a whimpering human and approached it. “Bring the human called Ishmayim to this place.” The human stammered but nodded and then began to fiddle with their device. They occasionally pointed it at the dragons and spoke into it. Lehavael took note of the behavior and recognized that it was some form of communication. This must be how they coordinated their attacks. He thought to himself.

After sometime, there was a sound of a loud horn being blown in the distance. It sounded a bit like the battle horns of old. The sounds were followed by a number of speeding vehicles, which rounded the corners and skidded to stops a short distance away from the dragons. The human stood and ran away. The dragons ignored them. Lehavael stepped toward the vehicles.

“Sorcerer!” he called.

A section opened and a man stepped out of the vehicle.

“I told you. I’m not a sorcerer,” Ishmayim said as he stepped in front of the vehicle.

“Human,” Cassiel spoke stepping forward. “Relinquish your command and bow to us. You cannot defeat us.”

“Like I told your friend earlier when we chased him out of our city with his tail tucked between his legs. We are not the same humans you once knew. If it’s a fight you want, we will prove to be more than formidable.”

“See brother,” Lehavael said. “He speaks brazenly.”

“You should consider why,” Ishmayim said. “Ask yourselves why I would agree to come here knowing there were five dragons out for my blood to a place full of humans where we could not safely or effectively mount an attack?”

“He speaks as one who knows,” Orphiel noted.

Lehavael looked around. The destruction of the city was great but he realized there was something amiss. The number of humans was scarce in comparison to earlier when he first made contact. He stood up tall and stepped towards Ishmayim again and lowered his face just in front of his.

“Your tricks have been noted human,” he said.

“No tricks, Lehavael. Plans. I’ve always heard stories of dragons being particularly clever. You’ll have to be smarter than this if you’re going to defeat mankind at anything but a fire breathing competition,” he said reaching up and laying a hand on Lehavael’s snout. The touch of his hand surprised him. Immediately, he reared back and blasted a massive flame engulfing Ishmayim. When the flame stopped, there was nothing but a husk of ash and the molten metal of vehicle caught in the path. “Like I said Lehavael,” Ishmayim spoke from somewhere else; perhaps one of the other vehicles. “I am the shield…and the sword.” There was a loud boom by way of the sea and the dragons turned around. Massive plumes of smoke shot into the sky and curved heading towards them.

“Let’s see how your fire compares to ours,” Ishmayim said.

The dragons flew into the air. “I will not rest till the flesh of your bones lines my teeth, Ishmayim. You will regret your pride,” Lehavael said.

“Likewise. I’m sure you taste delicious,” Ishmayim retorted.

The dragons roared and soared over the sea towards the incoming projectiles.